A TEENAGER was searched, arrested and excluded from school for cannabis possession after fellow pupils tipped off their head teacher.

Today police urged other students to follow the lead of the Tadcaster Grammar School youngsters by informing the authorities when they know other pupils have drugs.

"I would congratulate the young people that have done this," said Detective Superintendent Lewis Raw, York area crime commander.

"For the police to detect crime, we need the co-operation of the community - including young people.

"It's a very positive step that young people have such awareness that they feel able to inform the police or the school. I would encourage it."

He added that he would not view providing such information as "grassing", but one of protecting people.

PC Liz Boyle, of Tadcaster's neighbourhood policing unit, said: "There are a lot of kids out there that do not agree with drugs use, and we would encourage them to do this.

"We are quite keen to stamp this problem out and are working closely with the school to do something about it. It is a problem, but we are on the ball and we will act."

PC Boyle said the excluded pupil, a girl aged 15 or 16 from the Tadcaster area, was arrested for being in possession of a small amount of cannabis.

She was released and the matter was still under investigation.

Head teacher Geoff Mitchell said a number of pupils had come to him and told him about a conversation they had overheard on the journey to school.

"I immediately contacted the police," he said.

"The officers came to the school and searched the individual concerned, then escorted that pupil out of the school."

He said the school's policy towards drugs, as with all issues that could be harmful to young people, was one of zero tolerance.

"I don't care if it is a bag or a thimbleful. I don't care if it is one grain," he said.

"There is no difference at all. It will simply not be tolerated.

"The situation has now been referred to the governors and the student has been excluded.

"If there is an issue the young people need to know, I will act. I would do exactly the same thing again, and the young people know I would do it again.

"If I have to face something I will face it head on if I think a young person could be affected inappropriately by it."

He warned that the issue was so serious that police would be brought in.

"The children have been told many times in lessons and assemblies that drug addiction and substance abuse are taken as very, very high priority at the school. We care about these young people and things like this are so widely accepted in society that they are ignored if we are not careful.

"So many people seem to think it is not serious, but we see it as a very important issue that has to be stopped at all costs.

"We will act whenever we are told young people have heard something or seen something."

Heads take firm stance

PUPILS should put the safety of a fellow student above loyalty if they suspect he or she has drugs, senior teachers said today.

Brian Crosby, head teacher of Manor School in York, said: "Myself and the other head teachers in York secondary schools support Tadcaster's actions in this 100 per cent.

"No school in the city can truly say it would be free of young people having an involvement with drugs, and any school that believes they are beyond this problem would be fooling themselves.

"It's how we deal with the situation that makes the difference.

"We do a lot of work education youngsters about drugs through the drugs programme, and have to have a zero tolerance on anybody who brings drugs in.

"I personally have not heard of or experienced youngsters whistle-blowing on each other when it comes to drugs, although they do with many other things, but if a student does have a concern of that kind we would encourage them to bring it to our attention."

John Butcher, deputy head of Easingwold School, which pupils from villages north of York such as Haxby and Wigginton as well as Easingwold attend, said youngsters had occasionally provided the school with information in the past about others' involvement in drugs.

"Children find it difficult to inform on other pupils, but our position is that they have a greater responsibility for their health and well-being than their loyalty," he said. He did not believe there had been an increase in the number of pupils bringing drugs into school in the past five years, but that did not mean there was room for any complacency.

"There is evidence that there are drugs around in villages and small towns."

He added his school would always temporarily exclude any pupil caught with drugs, but each case would be considered on its individual merits before a decision was taken on whether or not the exclusion should be permanent. However, anyone caught supplying would be permanently excluded.

John Tomsett, head of Lady Lumley's School in Pickering, said he had a similar stance on pupils providing information about other students, saying this tied in with Lady Lumley's policy of being a "telling school" of openness and honesty.

"In the past, we have had information provided about other students," he said, adding that the school had a zero tolerance policy towards possession of drugs on the school premises."

Francis Loftus, who has been head teacher at Barlby High School, Selby, for 16 years, said: "We would tackle this in the same way as Tadcaster has, although I'm not so sure we would have involved the police.

"We have had two incidents in the last ten years, and in one case the pupil was expelled, and in the other the pupil was suspended and only allowed back because he was days away from sitting his GCSE exams.

"We have got to send the signal that this stuff is dangerous and has a powerful affect and taking it can be very dangerous.

"As far as pupils informing on one another goes, I don't stand up in assembly and say they should 'sprag' upon their mates, but if there are concerns they should say.

"I think whoever advised the Minister to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a C drug was wrong.

"It sends out completely the wrong message to youngsters."

Confusion over new status of cannabis

A DRUGS adviser warned today that some young people may wrongly believe cannabis is both legal and safe, following its reclassification.

Ian Grandidge, drug education advisor with East Riding of Yorkshire Council, said they needed to know the drug was neither safe nor legal.

"Cannabis is a powerful drug that is damaging to young people," he said.

Under Department For Education And Skills guidelines, head teachers had the right to permanently exclude any pupil caught dealing in drugs at school.

"The guidelines do not suggest permanent exclusion would be the usual sanction for possession only. However, this is essentially a matter for head teachers.

"The key is what is proportionate and what support is there for a pupil in terms of education and prevention."

City of York Council said every secondary school in York had a drugs policy, and the LEA provided guidance to schools on how to deal with drug related issues in accordance with DfES guidance.

"The course of action taken depends very much on the severity of the offence," said a spokeswoman. "However, we would always advise schools to contact the Young Persons' Substance Misuse Service, in addition to any other action they are taking."

Updated: 12:31 Friday, March 24, 2006